


Wander

by friedhotsauce



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Feels, Gen, Poetry, slight AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-17
Updated: 2014-04-17
Packaged: 2018-01-19 18:28:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 551
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1479643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/friedhotsauce/pseuds/friedhotsauce
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was a stupid wish, but maybe things would've turned out different if it had come true.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wander

She clung to the tree  
And wailed for none to see  
Except for an audience of leaves  
She closed her eyes  
Hugging the bark  
Trying to remember, for the life of her  
A sunnier time

_"What occupies my lady's mind?"_   
_Eddard Stark asks_   
_As they strolled through the godswood of Riverrun_   
_Catelyn paused to wondrously take in_   
_The greatest weirwood in all the garden_   
_"I had taken special care of this tree_   
_Since I was a little girl_   
_It means quite a lot to me."_   
_"Understandably." Ned agrees_

_"Must you leave me so soon?" Catelyn sighs_   
_A war is brewing_   
_And even the grooms have been enlisted_   
_"I will return, I swear it." Ned vows_   
_The new Lady Stark smiles lightly_   
_Relief in her body_   
_But her fingers grip tighter on the trunk_   
_"I must confess something."_   
_"Tell me, my love."_

_"For a time I have longed for the wind and open fields_   
_I dream of the wild_   
_To bathe in a lake and dance in the tall grass._   
_From this weirwood_   
_We would carve our home, our caravan_   
_And our children would dance and sing for all of Westeros."_   
_Eddard is the breeze_   
_Catelyn peeks to see her husband's questioning face_

_"My lady, what would be our currency?"_   
_"The gold of the forest, my lord."_   
_"What of our sustenance and nutrition?"_   
_"We will hunt and gather, such as the First Men."_   
_"What of security and alliances?"_   
_"My tongue is forked and my nails are talons_   
_I will protect our family_   
_The only alliance we need is with the gods."_

_Ned gives Catelyn a sad smile of molten rock_   
_"Dearest love_   
_I can provide you with many things_   
_Except this."_   
_She reluctantly forces this truth into the arms of her mind_   
_He places his hand over hers_   
_And feels the tree pulsing with promise underneath_   
_Ned can hear the laughter of family echoing_   
_From within a caravan_   
_"Perhaps one day..." He murmurs_   
_"Hmm? What was that?"_   
_"Nothing, my lady."_   
_He wants to surprise her_

But the opportunity never arises  
And now Eddard is far away  
Sitting on a ray of sun

Through the dizzy blur of tears  
Catelyn paints herself a moving picture  
 _She sees nightfall_  
 _Golden fireflies lighting the scene_  
 _The white weirwood caravan spotted with heart-pounding red_  
 _In the background_  
 _While the Starks feast at a long table in a meadow_  
 _Catelyn, sitting upon Ned's lap_  
 _Stares adoringly at what they had made_  
 _Rickon and Bran with hands and eyes full of pride and the peaches they had picked all by themselves_  
 _Arya and Sansa twirling like strong storms, levitating rock-gems from the ground_  
 _Even Jon Snow is there_  
 _Laughing and singing with sparrows, bluebirds, eagles too_  
 _And of course_  
 _The beloved direwolves, howling at the moon to invite her to their humble dinner_  
 _But Robb?_  
 _Where is Robb?_

_Catelyn dives into the bush to retrieve her eldest_   
_In a grassy clearing_   
_He is a flowing river_   
_Dancing with a silver nymph_   
_Robb giggles long and hard_   
_Until it becomes a scream_   
_Catelyn is horrified_

And just like that  
The sweet night  
Turns into dry day  
The weirwood in Riverrun still stands  
And the children have gone away  
Robb's nymph is his silent and grave sword  
That he whacks mournfully against a tree  
"Darling son, please don't hurt her."


End file.
